There is a real conservative shift happening in the political participation of Asian Americans in California. Following the pandemic and anti-Asian hate movement in 2020, the San Francisco Republican Party (SFGOP) reported a 60% increase in registered Republicans who were born overseas in Chinese-speaking regions.
The San Francisco Standard reported that from 2019 to 2024, SFGOP membership for voters from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia or Singapore increased by 11% compared to Democrats for 9%. Important to note that the data is understating this development since it doesn’t include voters from other parts of Asia.
California is also an important state for Asian American voters, according to the Pew Research Center, California has the highest number of Asian American eligible voters and is home to almost a third of the entire Asian electorate.
This conservative shift for Asian Americans has been gaining momentum nationwide. CNN national exit polls showed that in 2018, Asian American voters supported Democrats at 77% and Republicans at 23%. In 2022, support for Democrats slid to 58% while Republicans rose to 40%. Another indications being the election of two Republican congresswomen who are Korean immigrants, Young Kim and Michelle Park Steel, in 2020. Both were elected in California’s conservative Orange County.
The New York Times reported that during the 2022 midterm election in Texas, incumbent Gov. Greg Abbot defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke among Asian voters at 52% to 46%. Republicans also performed with more promising results in other statewide races in Florida and Georgia than previous elections.
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According to the Standard, 32-year-old Jason Zeng, an immigrant from China and registered Republican, is running for Congress to unseat the longtime Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“I think the Republican Party will win in San Francisco in the next 10 years,” said Zeng, making a provocative statement since the city has not had a Republican mayor since 1964.
Zeng is not the lone Asian American Republican challenger in this race, he is joined by opponent Bruce Lou, a 26-year-old Chinese American who says he’s frustrated with Democrats’ incompetence in handling crimes against Asians.
While an immediate Republican victory is unlikely in the overwhelmingly blue California, this serves as a wake up call for the party that voters believe have become complacent. Jay Donde, who leads Chinese immigrant Jennifer Yan’s slate to challenge the SFGOP, believes the Democratic Party is taking Asian American votes for granted.
“I’ve seen an increasing dissatisfaction among Asian Americans with the Democratic Party,” Donde told the Standard. “The far-left policies that have been embraced by the local party present an opportunity for groups like mine and the Republican Party.”
The Democratic Party’s oversight of Asian American voters reflects a neglect of the core values for immigrant communities, as Kanishka Cheng of grassroots community building organization Together SF explained to CNN.
“Democrats have a really hard time talking about public education and public safety,” said Cheng. “That’s the common denominator between the Asian and Latino community – we are immigrant communities. We came to America for stability and opportunity. Public safety and public education are the things that give us stability and opportunity. We need education and we need to feel safe.”
Nationally, the New York Times attributes the rightward drift of Asian voters to a new class divide in American politics, where the Democratic Party and its liberal wing in particular, is increasingly representative of the views of college-educated professional. Views on COVID, education, crime, and immigration are also cited as reasons for the conservative shift.
For Democrats, this is an opportunity to reflect on the party’s appeal for Asian American voters. Jeremy Lee, a co-president of the Rose Pak Democratic Club which represents the most progressive voices in the Asian American community, said he is not surprised by this right turn.
“We don’t have a Chinese American voice in power to make the city and Democratic Party accountable to the community,” Lee told The Standard. “So some community members are looking for alternatives, other options.”
Others are more optimistic, Wilson Chu, a board member of the moderate-leaning Chinese American Democratic Club, recognizes that issues like public safety and education have driven Asian Americans to the right, but points to younger activists as hope for the future.
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Thank goodness that Asian Americans are finally waking up to the FACT that historically the Dem Party has consistently and continuously done NOTHING positive for the Asian community. All we have ever gotten, at best is lip service. At worse we ere denied the rights of all other legal Americans with the numerous Anti-Asian legislation, Japanese imprisonment (internment, my arse!), anti-Asian sentiment so strong in LIBERAL DEM cities that even today they are ground zero for ant-Asian hate crimes. Although, as a minority of color we have the absolute highest academic achievement but the absolute lowest admission rates in top American Universities. ENOUGH is ENOUGH.